Apple iTV 4K Ultra HD capabilities tipped alongside late 2013 launch

Apple’s heavily rumoured venture into new markets will reportedly see the mooted Apple iTV television sets play host to 4K, Ultra HD capabilities.

A feature that would see the as yet unconfirmed Apple iTV line up at the forefront of television technologies, latest reports have suggested the company’s first own-branded television sets will boast a resolution four times that of Full HD.

Tipped to tout a 3840 x 2160p resolution, repeated Apple tipsters Digitimes have cited unnamed “industry supply chain sources” in suggesting Apple iTV is “likely to support Ultra HD along with voice and motion control functions and internet connectivity.”

As well as offering potential, albeit slightly speculative, insight into the Apple iTV specs, the new reports have suggested that the iPhone 5 and iPad mini manufacturer is targeting a late 2013 Apple iTV release date.

“Apple is banking on LG display to be able to mass produce Ultra HD TV panels by the second half of the year,” the unnamed sources reportedly said. “If LG is successful and has ample supply of the technology, Apple may try to release the TV by the end of 2013.”

Failing to prompt any reassurance to its claims, the reports added that it “is more likely to do so towards the beginning of 2014.”

Apple iTV RumoursWith recent reports having pegged an Apple iTV release date for November 2013, industry analysts have made a number of predictions around the possible extension to Apple’s product line.

Having already predicted the gadget would host a 4K display, Peter Misek, an analyst with Jefferies stated in a note to investors earlier this month: “We had thought that Apple’s software and ecosystem would be enough to drive demand but our checks indicate that Apple wants the hardware to also stand out.”

He added: “We believe Apple wants a display that looks like 4K/Ultra HD but without the super-premium cost.”

Thought to have been a product long in the works, Apple iTV rumours kicked into overdrive following the death of Apple co-founder and former CEO Steve Jobs. In Walter Isaacson’s posthumously published biography of Jobs, the company’s talismanic leader was quoted as stating he had “finally cracked” the TV sector.

Jobs reportedly said: “I’d like to create an integrated television set that is completely easy to use. It would be seamlessly synced with all of your devices and with iCloud. It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine. I finally cracked it.”